Acta Anthropologica Sinica ›› 1993, Vol. 12 ›› Issue (01): 39-48.

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Differentiation and evolution of three major races of Homo sapiens inferred from RFLP rate

Lu Baozhong, Chen Jie, Zeng Yitao   

  • Online:1993-03-15 Published:1993-03-15

Abstract: This paper studies the difference of RFLP rates(including ?--globin gene cluster, PAH gene and DM D--linked sequences)among and within the three majorraces of Homo sapienson one hand, and the differentiation and evolution in modern humans on the other hand. The phylogenetic trees we reconstructed with UPGMA are substantially similar to those by Nei and Roychoudhury, but the genetic distance estimated is twice as that estimated by them between Negroid andother races. The differentiation and evolution within Caucasoids occurred as late as about 9 000 years ago. This is essentially concordant(and probably more reliable)with the evidences collected from human migration and etymology. This paper provides a preliminary analysis of the relationship between genetic distance sand corresponding incidences of genetic diseases and, shows the tendency of negative correlation between them through double logarithmic transformation. There-fore, the neutral theory seems to be more reasonable for the maintenance of RFLP polymorphism.

Key words: RFLP; Human races; Genetic distance; Evolution